Chapter 440
Chapter 440
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 440
>Chapter Title: The 31st Horse Overturns the Game Board
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Kiyaaaaah—!
At Gum’s roar, the monsters swarmed in from all directions.
Uuuuzzz...
[Tansia uses partial transformation.]
[A part of the body changes into a dragon’s body.]
[The transformed body gains the dragon’s stats.]
The massive reptilian right arm swatted at the monsters charging from every direction.
Kwaaajiiiiik—!
Kiiii...
The tremendous impact sent them flying backward.
Boooooung...
Paaaaang—!
The monsters were helpless against Tansia’s attacks.
Pak—!
A leader among the monsters tried to block Tansia’s attack by grabbing her arm.
Kwajijijik—!
Tansia crushed it in her grip.
“......”
Tansia was fighting the most intense battle of her life, yet paradoxically, she couldn’t focus on the fight.
Because a noble lady kept staring at her.
Suuuuu...
She brought her massive hand toward the lady, but it passed right through her futilely.
Tansia frowned in frustration, then beamed brightly.
“I get it! It’s magic! That’s magic!”
“Tansia...”
“But who are you?”
The reason Tansia couldn’t stop paying attention to her was that her voice was so warm and comforting.
〔I’m a dragon, just like you.〕
“Oh! Really?”
〔Yes, really.〕
The gatekeeper Gum was the type who strengthened allies with his voice and neutralized enemies with mental magic.
In other words, most of his abilities were useless against Tansia, while her power wreaked utter devastation on the monsters under his command.
Uuuuzzz...
Kiyaaa!
“Ugh... my arm hurts...”
However, facing them with just her right arm was tough because there were too many monsters.
Gian was weak.
But right now, Tansia was struggling so much that she seemed even weaker than Gian.
She had never fought this long, this straightforwardly before.
If only she could use her left arm too...
〔Tansia, are you in pain?〕
“Yeah... a little? It’s weird... I’m a dragon...”
Heh...
Tancreed’s illusion spoke to her.
〔Dragons possess the toughest bodies and the greatest spirits of any living being.〕
“I know that! But... am I not one?”
Kwajijik—!
Tansia struggled desperately to protect Gian and Sindio, who were still trapped in the mental magic. Watching her own fight, she grew depressed.
No, she was on the verge of tears.
“I get it... Tansia... isn’t... a real dragon, right?”
Tears welled up in Tansia’s eyes.
The time a child has spent in the world isn’t long.
She was a dragon, but not a dragon.
Because she hadn’t learned anything from her mother.
She had received the teachings of mortals and their love.
The power she awakened after long suffering was something even a crawling lizard might use.
No one had rushed her, but she felt heartbroken for herself.
〔...Tansia. Dragons are the spirits that guard this land. Their power sprouts from hope.〕
“I don’t get it... what does that mean?”
Kwajiiik—!
Kwajiik!
Tansia blocked the endlessly swarming monsters with her right arm. Gradually, the defensive line was closing in.
〔Your body and spirit will awaken to the extent of the hope passed to you.〕
“Hope?”
“Dragons are spirits that crave hope. Believe in the power within you.”
“But no one...”
No one expects anything from me.
No one hopes for anything from me.
Tansia, who had been thinking that, suddenly shouted.
“Ah! There is!”
There definitely was.
Someone who believed in her.
- Tansia, you have to protect big brother and sister.
- Me, Tansia?
- Yeah, because Tansia’s strong.
Tansia stared blankly at Tancreed’s illusion.
“One person... believes in me.”
Tancreed’s illusion smiled back at her.
〔That’s enough for now.〕
“What do I do next?”
〔Calm your mind and imagine the version of yourself that your opponent desires.〕
“The version of me that Dad wants...”
A dragon is partly bones, partly scales, partly blood, partly flesh.
And the mighty spirit ruling it all is filled solely with hope.
“Uuuuu...”
Pajijik...
Uuuuzzz...
[Enlightenment! Tansia’s partial transformation advances.]
[The body parts available for partial transformation increase.]
[Some body parts can now maintain partial transformation simultaneously.]
[Enlightenment! Tansia awakens a new ability.]
[Tansia awakens Sustained: King of Life.]
Tansia’s left arm expanded, just as her right arm had.
Doubling her attack options meant she could handle offense and defense at once.
Kwajijijik—!
In an instant, the monsters were swept away like a tsunami.
[Sustained: King of Life]
- Attacks delivered with the body gain extensibility. Destructive power increases, spreading shock over a wide area.
Her arms became not shields, but massive war hammers.
“Here!”
Kwaaaaang—!
Wherever her arms smashed down, piles of mangled remains gathered.
Even the monsters reinforced with shells and further buffed by Gum were effortlessly shoved aside, exposing Gum.
Kiiiiii—!
“Got you!”
Tansia thrust both arms out, grabbing the fleeing Gum and hoisting it into the air.
Kiaaa!
Kiaaaaa!
Gum thrashed wildly in her grasp.
Tansia turned her eyes from it, searching for the lady who had advised her.
“Huh? Where’d she go?”
Perhaps because something had happened to Gum, Tancreed’s illusion had vanished.
Since she didn’t know her mother and had never felt her warmth, she didn’t mourn the parting.
She simply tightened her grip on Gum.
Kwajijijijik—!
[Gatekeeper ‘Gum of Astral Projection’ is defeated.]
[Additional rewards acquired.]
Tansia dropped the limp remains of Gum to the floor and stared for a moment at where the lady had been.
For some reason, she felt an emptiness that couldn’t be filled.
“But when are they gonna wake up?”
Tansia tilted her head, looking at the sleeping Sindio and Gian.
* * *
The magic gifted by Gum of Astral Projection had dragged Sindio and Gian into a horrific world.
No, more precisely, the now unscathed Sindio had stepped into a relatively okay world, but not Gian.
He had entered a world he never wanted to recall.
Pueok—!
Pueeeok—!
“Wrong... wrong...”
“You dog! You filthy dog!”
Pueeeok—!
The echo of violence is brutal.
Even a simple sound evokes empathy for the pain and stirs the conscience.
Gian hid.
In one of the few intact pieces of furniture in the house... no, the least broken one: the wardrobe.
The wardrobe... had a gap.
Looking back now, Gian thought maybe it would’ve been better if there’d been no gap.
Through the gap, he saw the abuser and the victim crushed beneath.
“Die! Die!”
“Please... don’t hit me...”
It was the mine foreman and Gian’s mother, who had been entertaining him.
Gian thought.
Mom was wrong.
No one could survive beatings like that.
Even if luck let her hang on for now, she’d die from the aftereffects eventually.
This city had no proper medicine or doctors.
Such a death would be even more agonizing.
“Aaaah! Aah!”
Pueok...
Pueeok...
“Ah... ah...”
Weakened violence and even weaker screams.
Mom’s eyes turned toward the gap in the wardrobe.
“......”
Then, their eyes met.
His mother faced eyes filled with many emotions.
Pupils trembling in fear.
Anxiety that he’d be killed too if discovered.
And guilt for turning away from her suffering.
Kwaaaang—!
The foreman unleashed his violence as he pleased and left.
Silence filled the space.
“You can... come out... now...”
Kiiiik...
Trembling hands opened the wardrobe.
“M-Mom...”
“Gian... Gian...”
“I’ll get help! Wait! Does it hurt?”
“Wait... Gian...”
His mother grabbed Gian’s hand and shook her head.
“Don’t... tell anyone...”
“Why?”
“If they find out... they’ll... kill you. They’re all... in on it.”
“......”
He couldn’t say he didn’t care or that he’d handle it.
“Gian... my son... my... precious... son.”
“Sorry, Mom... I’ll listen from now on! No more trouble...”
“Gian, next time you come see Mom... I want you to be a good boy.”
“......”
“Do good deeds... be someone who helps the world... not like Mom.”
“N-No... what’s wrong with you, Mom!”
Gian’s mother stroked his head.
“Then... Mom will hug you...”
Thud...
Her face, swollen like poorly baked bread, turned pitch black.
“...Mom?”
Excessive silence.
“Mo... uh... Mom...?”
Mom.
......
Mom!
“Uuu... Mommm!”
Slap—!
The stinging pain on his cheek made Gian’s mouth gape open.
The vision before him was gone, and Tansia—with slightly larger horns—stared at him blankly.
“Miss Mom?”
“...It’s the dragon.”
“Yeah! I’m a dragon.”
“...Haa, it was you. Thanks.”
“For what?”
“Something like that.”
Gian dusted himself off and stood.
Beside him, Sindio was mumbling with his back turned.
“I’m an adult... I’m an adult...”
“What’re you doing?”
“Oh, my self-esteem took a hit... More importantly, you told me about your mom before. Looks like you listened to her well, huh?”
“Well, eventually. Anyway, why’re you like that?”
“......”
When Sindio turned, his cheeks were puffy.
“...What happened to your face? Your speech sounded off too.”
“You too, apparently?”
“Me? Aagh...”
When Gian touched his cheek, he felt the impact of Tansia’s slap still there.
“My... tooth is loose.”
“......Good to be alive.”
Tansia said brightly.
“Let’s go! I wanna brag to Dad!”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Seeing the battlefield where all the monsters were crushed—as if a building had collapsed—Gian shook his head.
“Kid, are you stronger than your dad by any chance?”
“Dunno!”
“Check later. If Dad’s stronger, you gotta tell me.”
“I don’t fight Dad.”
“...Sigh.”
Sindio asked.
“Did that dangerous guy earlier draw all the monsters here?”
“Maybe. The kid stepped up.”
“...Yeah. But I had a really bad dream. What about you?”
“Same here.”
The twisted trigger, the reason Gian obsessed over the past.
The guilt of turning away from his mother when she needed him most had brought him this far.
“Y’know, trying to be a good kid takes a lot of prep.”
“Huh? A good kid? Doesn’t doing good deeds make you one? Why prep...”
“Nah. That’s for normal folks. For a rotten guy like me to become a good kid, how huge a good deed do I need?”
“...Can’t argue with that.”
“That’s why I need prep. To do the world’s greatest good deed and satisfy Mom.”
“...Something up?”
“Nah. Kid, you... got dreams?”
“Dreams?”
“Yeah, what you want.”
Tansia raised her hand high.
“Becoming a dragon!”
“You already are.”
“No, no! A real one! A true dragon!”
“...And you?”
“Me... well, for now, making sure you pay for your crimes properly?”
“That count as a dream? Whatever. Gian, you?”
Gian smirked and said.
“I’d like to be able to look Mom straight in the face.”
“What’s that... Still, hope you get it.”
“Yeah, like the kid’s wish and yours.”
They walked a long way and reached the road’s end.
Finally, a massive hall came into view.
“Woooow...”
“Oh dear...”
Gian scowled, staring ahead.
“Gian... with unfamiliar faces.”
“...Shurajin.”
“They said you betrayed us, but your work’s sloppy.”
With the council thugs, Shurajin was fiddling with a box of decent size in the hall’s center.
It looked like the fruit of this ruin at a glance.
“Looking for the Fragment of Assertion?”
“......”
“Planning to interfere with council business? Naive.”
Gian bit his lip and said quietly.
“Kid, think you can snatch that box from her?”
“Hmph, nonsense.”
Kiiiik...
The box opened.
“......”
Shurajin paused, then took out what was inside.
It was a stone about the size of an adult fist.
“That’s... the Fragment of Assertion?”
“Ooh... looks like a plain old rock.”
“...No energy at all?”
“No way...”
Right then, a booming voice and applause echoed through the hall.
Clap...
Clap...
Clap...
【Heh heh heh heh... You came all this way... But what to do about this?】
This was Bitan’s voice.
“Who’s there!”
Bitan chuckled slyly.
【...One step too late?】
Bitan spouted a classic villain line. But his form hadn’t appeared yet.
Shurajin shouted.
“Did you bastards... take what was in the box?”
At her venomous cry, they finally revealed themselves.
Kang Seol and Karen.
And Karuna and Bitan.
Especially Bitan, like a big shot debuting, held a stone engraved with mysterious runes atop Kang Seol’s shoulder, thrusting it forward.
【...Yeah, looking for this?】
Everyone there guessed it was the Fragment of Assertion.
Bitan winked at Tansia with one eye.
Tansia clenched her fists, trembling with excitement.
“So cooool!”
Anyone could see Bitan looked like the villain.
Suuuup...
“Shadow scent... A summoner.”
Shurajin scanned Karen and Karuna, her gaze stopping on Kang Seol.
“A summoner? ...Then? ...Disciple of whom? Feels familiar...”
Kang Seol tilted his head and asked.
“Obliged to answer?”
“Hmm... I know this scent.”
Shurajin grinned wickedly.
“Mirei, that mongrel’s scent. Is she your master...?”
“Mongrel?”
“...Yes, mongrel. How a mongrel like that came from my master...”
“Your master... Got it.”
Kang Seol said with a hardened expression.
“Gregory’s disciple. He involved in this too?”
Siiik...
She answered with a smile.
Gregory, one of Pandea’s top three shadow summoners, a monster.
Mirei’s master, who taught Night Raven. One of the council members Gian couldn’t speak of due to his oath.
Gian suppressed his rising emotions, watching the situation.
Gregory was a massive figure.
His name alone made Pandea tremble. If Kang Seol learned he was involved, what decision would he make?
“Now that you know my master’s name, you know how to act, right?”
“...Understood. But Mirei’s no mongrel.”
“Keuk... She is. A dim-witted mongrel.”
“......”
Kang Seol recalled Mirei, who had passed her power to him and shown him a new path.
- Go... show the world... you... no, us. That we can... coexist...
She wasn’t a mongrel.
Suuuuk...
Whiiiii—!
Kang Seol threw off his robe and stepped forward.
In a slightly angry tone, he said.
“No one... interfere in this fight.”